I gotta say…it feels good to be able to customize something just the way you like it. A few years ago I invested in this Canon 60D camera to shoot my posts and tape my auditions, and it’s truly paid for itself multiple times over. So, it was only fitting that I marry that with one of my true loves — leather. So, I got out some vegtan leather I picked up at Mood Fabrics and got to giving it a bit of a personal touch. Tell me what you think you’d like put your signature on.
SUPPLIES: hole punch, rotary cutter, cup, blade, piece of harness leather, some vegtan leather, 2 small d-rings, 2 copper rivets and burrs, wire cutter, rivet setter, mallet, hard surface (I used a piece of marble, and a straight edge.
HOW-TO: 1. Cut a rectangle out of your black harness leather that is 2″ x 9.5″ inches, and a piece of natural veg-tan leather 5/8″ x 36.” (Note: I added a little black Edge Kote which you can also get a Mood, to make my shoulder piece look that much sleeker and finished). Then take your cup and and blade and shape off the corners of your harness leather rectangle — this gives it those rounded, softer looking edges.
2. Next, use your straight edge and blade to cut 4 slits in this piece of harness leather.
3. So your slits won’t expand too much once you get to using your straps, punch tiny holes on either side of each of your 4 slits.
4. You’re more than half way there! Move your punch to a slightly larger hole, and punch 4 holes to fit in those rivets. Now it’s time to insert your rivets.
HOW-TO CONT’D:
5. Pry open your d-rings with the wire cutters, and then put them on the camera. Go ahead and close them up.
6. Pound in your copper rivets with your mallet.
7. Take the wire cutters and cut off the backs off of them, and then use the other end of the rivets setter to smooth them out.
Brandhyze Stanley is the chief leather goods designer and creator of Brandhyze + Co. A DIY girl at heart—Brandhyze has been featured on Dr. Oz, The View, The Today Show, InStyle Magazine, Essence Magazine, and MTVStyle. A Wilhelmina Model for over a decade, with a Business Degree from Loyola University Chicago, Brandhyze has provided DIY content to the popular How-To Site, eHow; and has been a contributor for the Huffington Post, Yahoo Finance, Super Money, Good Housekeeping, and Newsday Westchester, to name a few. Brandhyze is a lover of leather and a mixer of textiles, follow her on Instagram @BrandhyzeandCo.
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